The State of EdTech in

Ivory Coast 2018 Contents

01 Introduction…………………………………………………. 3

02 Objectives……………………………………………….…... 6

03 Market………………………………………………………..... 9

04 Entrepreneurship…………………………………...….. 14

05 Community…………………………………………...…….. 18

06 Support & Adoption…………………………….…….. 23

07 Startups…………………………………………………….…. 26

08 Funding………………………………………………………... 34

09 Acknowledgements…………………………………... 41

10 References…………………………………………………... 42

2 01

Introduction

Foreword & Executive Summary Foreword from Jacobs Foundation

Dear Reader,

The TRECC initiative (Transforming in Cocoa Communities) was We are proud to share this report with fellow investors and ecosystem launched by the Jacobs Foundation in 2015 to improve the lives of children builders who have an interest in the Ivorian education space. Its purpose is to and youth in Côte d’Ivoire by supporting the government in achieving its unveil the challenges faced by those committed to fulfill the promise of strategic objectives to develop the human capital of the country. In order to education as a key element for the development of their country, while also achieve this ambitious goal, TRECC has been working hand in hand with the highlighting the investment opportunities that exist in Côte d’Ivoire. government, while leveraging the contribution of traditional actors in the education space as well as new actors such as researchers, the private sector We hope you will enjoy reading this report as much as we did and that, and social entrepreneurs. together, we can build a stronger ecosystem for education technology start-ups in Côte d’Ivoire. Many young social entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire are already hard at work to harness the potential of new technologies to extend learning opportunities beyond the classroom but are struggling to be seen and to find the right support system. Through its Impact Finance program, TRECC wants to nurture the talent of young entrepreneurs and facilitate the growth of education

start-ups in Côte d’Ivoire. Hence, it was only natural for us to turn to our Lise Birikundavyi long-term partner, Seedstars, to better understand the Edtech landscape in Deputy Country Director Côte d’Ivoire. Impact Finance Investment Manager TRECC We are proud to share this report with fellow investors and ecosystem builders who have an interest in the Ivorian education space. Its purpose is to unveil the challenges faced by those committed to fulfill the promise of education as a key element for the development of their country, while also highlighting the investment opportunities that exist in Côte d’Ivoire.

We hope you will enjoy reading this report as much as we did and that, together, we can build a stronger ecosystem for education technology start-ups in Côte d’Ivoire.

4 Executive Summary

Global EdTech Outlook EdTech in “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to Despite most of the EdTech activity and investment happening in developed fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” markets, the potential impact of technology in economies such as Ivory Coast is even more transformational. With just 43% of the population over Laozi (老子), ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. 15 able to read and write3.2 and only a 26% enrolment rate in secondary 3.3 For a layman, education is well regarded as a basic public right. For an schools , education solutions can play a major developmental role. What economist, it is usually seen as a key driver for economic growth. For a impact is EdTech having in Ivory Coast? What are the challenges blocking sociologist it may be viewed as a way of forming a more cohesive social the entrepreneurs from transforming the industry? In this report we dive into structure, transmitting core values or improving child well-being. For the UN, the sector to answer these questions through surveys, interviews and data. “Education is the key that will allow many other Sustainable Development In reading this report it will become apparent that the EdTech ecosystem in Goals (SDGs) to be achieved.”1.1 Whoever you are, it is difficult to ignore the Ivory Coast is still nascent and the community almost non-existent. There is importance and potential impact of education. yet to be an EdTech startup to raise significant capital or reach considerable Empirically, the World Bank Group policy paper by C. Montenegro and H. scale. In fact, just 18 startups in the education space were identified of Patrinos1.2 analysed data from 139 economies and concluded that the returns which 11 are in the revenue generating stage. Grants of insufficient size are to schooling are consistently validated, with the returns to tertiary education the main source of funding and there is a general lack of know-how about

the highest (14.6%), followed by primary education (11.5%) and with fundraising by founders. secondary education the lowest (6.8%). On a more positive note, this report outlines various sectors for EdTech Globally, EdTechXGlobal1.3 estimates that the education industry is worth over startups that have an attractive market size without having to go cross $5tn, 8x the size of the software market and 3x the size of the media and border. Education is a core government policy and various NGOs are active entertainment industry. This explains why over $9.5bn was funneled into in the space. Talent is available in the market to build a successful startup so EdTech by investors in 20171.4. long as it can be paid for. Although the current funding situation is poor, there is a large and growing pool of investors active in Africa that are From an educator perspective, a survey1.5 of 481 education leaders in 10 definitely within reach. countries found that EdTech greatly or satisfactorily improved student scores in over 75% of cases when EdTech solutions had been highly adopted. The report outlines various recommendations for the ecosystem: from encouraging more community collaboration, to developing the angel investor activity, to incentivising regional investors to step into Ivory Coast. Fortunately, both authors of this report are in a position to be part of the solutions and are keen to work with the other stakeholders towards a more impactful EdTech ecosystem. 5 02

Objectives Exemplary EdTech Ecosystems The Components of an EdTech Ecosystem

In order to analyse the state of EdTech in Ivory Coast, it is helpful to have an objective in mind. The ultimate goal is SDG4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education Entrepreneurship Community Market Entrepreneurship Community and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. To achieve this goal, both Seedstars and TRECC are seeking to Entrepreneurial spirit, talent A vibrant EdTech ecosystem Attractive and sizeable Entrepreneurial spirit, talent A vibrant EdTech ecosystem and ease of doing business connecting stakeholders opportunity for EdTechs and ease of doing business connecting stakeholders support key enablers such as high-growth EdTech startups.

EdTech startups may exist in isolation but will grow and thrive in an ecosystem that contains certain building blocks. The Startups

components of an ecosystem considered to be of critical Support & Adoption Funding EdTechs of all stages covering importance are shown in figure 2.1 and each will be all opportunities level support Full spectrum of financing analysed in depth in the context of Ivory Coast. and customer willingness opportunities For each of the components: Market, Entrepreneurship, Support & Adoption Funding Community, Support & Adoption, Funding and Startups, having an objective in mind can help give direction and Education policy level support Full spectrum of financing Startups

therefore we look towards more mature ecosystems for and customer willingness opportunities inspiration over the following pages. EdTechs of all stages covering

all opportunities The Market is the one component that is inherent to the ecosystem and cannot be altered in the short term. It is Market critical for high growth startups to have a big enough

addressable market - be it measured by , schools, Attractive and sizeable opportunity for EdTechs study abroad students or salaried employees. As a rule of thumb, a serviceable available market of $100mn or more is Figure 2.1 of interest to founders and investors. The components of an EdTech ecosystem

7 Learning from the Best

The Entrepreneurship block analyses the entrepreneurial culture and ease of the creation of credible products and the adoption within the sector. Over 100 doing business in the broader sense of the ecosystem - not just limited to EdTech startups have completed the program since its launch in 2017. EdTech. For the analysis, this report uses the Seedstars Index, a framework that has been applied to over 65 ecosystems around the world using Silicon The Funding component in the ecosystem is critical in allowing startups to Valley as the exemplary ecosystem. experiment, build and ultimately scale. A full specturm of funding mechanisms are required, ranging from grants to angel, seed and venture capital. Analysis The Community element refers specifically to the EdTech sector and is critical from Metaari2.1 showed EdTech investment reached new highs in 2017 with a for stakeholder collaboration. A vibrant community will have regular EdTech total of $9.5bn invested and with 55% of funding coming from the US. Of the events, EdTech programs, known role-models, active mentors and dedicated 10 most active EdTech VCs from 2012-2016, 4 were focused uniquely on the media outlets. Cities such as London can be looked to for inspiration. London, sector (NewSchools Venture Fund, Learn Capital, Rethink Education, TAL for example, hosts several world-renowned EdTech events such as Bett, an Education Group) and 2 had positive screening for EdTech2.2. industry show with over 34,000 attendees; or London EdTech Week, a week-long festival with over 40 event hosts and over 6,000 attendees. The Startups are the desired output of the ecosystem and here, again, the mature city also claims a dedicated EdTech co-working space (EdSpace) and ecosystems in the US and China can be turned to for inspiration. Data from 2.3 acceleration program (Emerge Education). Navitas showed Beijing to be home to 3000 EdTechs and the Bay Area home to 800. Even using more comparable cities like Nairobi, the number

Support & Adoption refers to education policy level support and customer reached 100. Of all the EdTech startups analysed across 20 ecosystems, just adoption readiness. When it comes to aspirational government education 7% have raised more than $1mn, demonstrating the difficulty in scaling a

policy, Finland must be referenced given their rapid rise to the top of the business, even in more mature ecosystems, and perhaps the importance of education ranks following a bold decision to focus on public education in 1963. failure in the search for success. Encouraging more entrepreneurs to start a Years of reform included successful moves such as requiring every teacher to business and helping them succeed should be the common goal of the earn a master’s degree (similar to doctors and lawyers) thereby elevating the ecosystem with each component (Entrepreneurship, Community, Support & role in status and esteem. Adoption, and Funding) playing a distinct role.

Government policy can set the direction and empower educators, but for many EdTechs, teachers are the gatekeepers. Facilitating EdTech adoption is an area that several organisations in the UK are tackling. ResearchED focuses on bridging the gap between research and practice by hosting events for researchers, teachers and policy makers for the K-12 sector. EDUCATE, a program housed within the UCL Institute of Education, connects the EdTech community to top education research and practice professionals facilitating 8 03

Market Education Market Insights Education Sector Overview

Demographics and rate Education sector overview Ivory Coast has a population of about 23.7 million and an annual population There are considerable disparities in the quality of education to which growth rate of 2.5%. The total fertility rate is around 5.1 children per woman. students have access, with large differences between the public and the Life Expectancy is 51.9 years, and Infant Mortality relatively high at 74 deaths private sector, but also rural areas and cities. Nearly 43% of public education per 1,000 live births. The dependency ratio is 84 dependants (ages 0-to-14 resources are appropriated by the top 10%. Boys consume 20% more 3.1 and 65+) per 100 working-age adults with 42.7% of the population under resources than girls, and urban people 2.3 times more resources than rural age 15. people.3.4 Figure 3.1 Population split by age Almost all public teachers have theoretical and pedagogic training, unlike those in the private sector. For instance, in primary schools in 2016/2017, 8 teachers out of 100 are employed without any pedagogical training. This proportion is 7.5 times higher in the private sector (28.2%) than in the public

sector (3.8%).3.5 In all teaching cycles, teachers without the needed educational and sometimes academic skills are employed. This situation is observed especially in the private and the community institutions. This raises a

real problem when we know the strong influence that the qualification and the knowledge of the teacher can have on the students' achievements.

In 2015 43.1% of the population aged 15 and over could read and write. At To fill the gaps created by these imbalances in the quality of education the same moment, Senegal (57.7%) and Nigeria (59.6%) had a higher literacy provided, home tutors are widespread in Ivory Coast as in other countries of rates, while Kenya (78%) and South Africa (94.1%) were far ahead. In Ivory the sub-region. They are commonly named “Répétiteurs”. They help children Coast, the literacy rate is commonly higher among men (53.1%), who review their lessons and prepare their homework. Previously these courses generally have the opportunity to study longer than women (32.5%).3.2 were mainly taught by graduate students. The teachers also offer private lessons, at much higher rates nonetheless. Here again, the quality and the The school-age population at pre-school represents 2,001,563 children aged academic background of the home tutors are a concern. Nevertheless, the 3-to-5 years with a gross enrollment rate (GER) of 9.4%. 3,983,964 children aged 6-to-11 are eligible for education, while 2,274,205 demand is such that some structures, such as Academix, have emerged to children aged 12-to-15 are eligible for secondary schooling (1st cycle) with connect “répétiteurs” and families. respective GER of 100.5% and 70.52%. Moreover, 506,729 teenagers are

schooled in high school ( 2nd cycle) with a GER of 35.78%.3.3

10 EdTech Market Overview & Privatization

Description of the market size and growth Privatization of education Although Ivory Coast seems to be a country where EdTech companies would There are three main forms of private education in Ivory Coast: be able to fill some gaps and inequalities in the education system, the EdTech denominational private, secular private and community school. Community market remains nascent. Structural difficulties can partly explain this, but we schools are generally located in rural areas, and monitored by parents who also note that there is no real market demand at the moment and that the finance a non-tenured teacher. Given the increasing privatization and actors are still few. By way of comparison, the terms “education” and commodification of education and the increasing number of private “technology” are much more popular, according to Google Keywords Planner, institutions in the country, a study on the impact of these trends on the Ivorian in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, which appear as continental locomotives, education system has been conducted. This study has provided evidence on and even in Senegal, the other French-speaking driving force behind growth in the need to regulate and control the activities of for-profit schools in the the West African economy. country.3.7

Figure 3.2 In fact, many families cannot afford school fees, and the private provision of Google monthly average searches for keyword “Education” education implies the exclusion of a large number of students from the

education system. The causes of this privatization of education in Ivory Coast are numerous. The economic crisis of the 1980s and the sharp reduction of

public resources with the fall in prices of export products that followed were the triggers. The very important demand for education due to a high

demographic pressure and the governance problems leading to a lack of

transparency in terms of human and financial resources also led to this gradual privatization of education in Ivory Coast before the emergence of military-political crises. The result has been a drop in the public education supply, a situation of over-crowded classrooms, a deterioration in the level of learner acquisition, an increase in school drop-outs, and the proliferation of

school "shops" that escape any pedagogical supervision from educational The country's internet penetration rate partly explains this limited attraction authorities.3.8 for EdTech. If Kenya leads with 85% penetration rate, the other countries mentioned above exceed 50% where the Ivory Coast reaches a mere 26.3%. Thus, with 10 million inhabitants fewer than the Ivory Coast, Senegal nevertheless had 3.5 million more internet users as of December 31, 2017.3.6 11 Educational Facilities in Ivory Coast

Pre-school to High school During the period from 2014/15 to 2018/19, we find that the Gross Enrollment Ivory Coast offers its 9,675,967 children 23,068 education institutions from Ratio (GER) to primary school experienced an average annual growth rate of pre-school to high school. In 2018/2019, there were 42 students per classroom 1.2%. The GER to secondary school is much lower than primary school. for primary and 54 students per instructional group for secondary school.3.3 In However, it is gradually improving. Student enrollment at all levels of comparison, there are more than 50 students per class in primary schools in a education increased steadily from 2014/15 to 2018/19. They went from third of the african countries with data. 4,348,473 to 6,348,683 which equates to an average annual growth rate of 7.8% over this period. 65.1% of the school-age population actually attend Figure 3.3 schools.3.3 Number of classrooms by type and stage IN 2018/2019

Pre school Primary school Secondary school Higher education system and non-formal learning Rural 1 886 55 176 The higher education system includes conventional schooling and vocational

Urban 5 156 40 690 training. In 2014 Ivory Coast had 5 public universities gathering training and

research units including INPHB (7 schools) and ENS (training of teaching staff Community 33 2 287 working in secondary education); 27 private universities; and 153 private Private 2 186 15 950 28 810 business school.3.4 Public 4 823 77 629 11 688 Total 7 042 95 866 40 498 Vocational training is another option after the high school diploma. These

courses are mainly managed by the private sector with 29 specialised schools Figure 3.4 currently offering this service. Gross enrollment ratio evolution from 2014/15 to 2018/19 Non-formal learning is steadily making its way into the education system. NGOs, public structures in rural areas and, more recently, several startups are the main actors in this sector. Public institutions organize mobile training units for vocational training, workshops for the development of craftsmen, logistical support to young graduates, and literacy centers to acquire the basics of reading, writing and numeracy. There is also informal training, such as traditional training, where apprentices work in a workshop or company with a master apprentice.

12 Estimated Market Size for Various EdTech Segments

In this report, the EdTech startups are split broadly into four categories: Based on this high-level analysis, it is demonstrated that the market segments range from $30mn to 120mn. Other factors, such as the ease of accessing the ● School Tech market, the stickiness of the product, the lifetime value and the market growth ● E-learning (primary/secondary) also need to be taken into account by entrepreneurs considering operating a ● E-learning (tertiary) new business in one of these segments. ● Career Development

As mentioned already, to build a startup at scale, a serviceable addressable market of $100mn would represent an interesting opportunity. Taking the four startup categories above and using various assumptions, estimates can determine the attractiveness of the models based on key drivers as shown in Figure 3.5 below.

E-learning E-learning School Tech (primary / secondary) (tertiary) Career Development

Private primary/ secondary/ Students in primary/ secondary Formal jobs created + existing high schools education from Key Drivers of Market Size Students in tertiary education formal jobs turnover (around + middle/high-income family 20%) Large public schools (>$4/day)

# Potential Customers (A) 5,000 - 10,000 1,000,000 - 1,500,000 150,000 - 200,000 150,000 - 190,000

$1/student/mth, avg. 500 $5/student/mth, $50/student/mth $200/placement, avg. monthly Assumed Annual Pricing (B) students = $6,000 p.a. = $60 p.a. = $600 p.a. $200

Estimated Serviceable $30mn - $60mn $60mn - $90mn $90mn - $120mn $30mn - $38mn Addressable Market (A * B)

Figure 3.5 EdTech Market Size Estimates 13 04

Entrepreneurship The Fuel of EdTech Measuring the State of Entrepreneurship

Seedstars Index No venture can thrive without an opportunity to grow in local and foreign At Seedstars, the objective is to create, support and accelerate more startups markets, which requires talented team members, expert mentoring and (also defined as high-growth ventures) in emerging markets. These startups access to funding. bring disruptive models to large markets and, in addition to the digital transformation, they contribute to economic growth. For example, just 6% of Success breeds success. Successful businesses provide high-growth companies in the UK shown to contribute to over 50% of job opportunities and economic growth, and therefore should be the targeted creation4.1. output for any ecosystem. Success is also the catalyst of an ecosystem as entrepreneurs lead by example, become role models, invest, mentor and Having more successful high-growth startups requires a functioning lobby for change. entrepreneurial ecosystem. In order to facilitate this objective, Seedstars developed the Seedstars Index (SSI) to measure the quality and maturity of Figure 4.1 each ecosystem. The pillars of the SSI are the three factors believed to be The Seedstars Index Pillars fundamental in building a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem: Culture, Environment and Opportunity. These factors form the foundation of an ecosystem and permit Success cases, which are both the desired output and the catalyst of an ecosystem.

If the right culture does not exist, no one will even consider entrepreneurship as an option and new ventures will not take shape. An entrepreneurial mindset is critical, while a fear of failure can be crippling.

Without a conducive environment, new ventures will be suffocated by harsh business conditions. If administration and legal systems are not facilitative, business and investment will suffer. Reliable, affordable electricity and internet are critical.

15 Entrepreneurship in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast vs Peers The results from the 2017/18 edition of the SSI showed that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in performed roughly on par with the average results from the African continent.

Figure 4.2 below indicates the SSI scores of Abidjan against the regional average and the two leading African ecosystems, Cape Town and Nairobi. Scores for each pillar and the overall scores given next to the city are out of 100 points.

The environment in Abidjan was found to be slightly more supportive than average (+2.2) while the opportunity was measured to be slightly less attractive (-3.6). In the pillar of culture, however, Abidjan was 9.6 points below the average, demonstrating a large lack of entrepreneurial activity and spirit.

Figure 4.2 Seedstars Index Score Comparison

16 Entrepreneurship in Ivory Coast

Culture Opportunity The entrepreneurship culture is not yet positive enough in Ivory Coast. Based With Ivory Coast being an economic hub in West Africa, entrepreneurs do on the SSI scores, the mindset is not favorable to entrepreneurship as it is not have a number of opportunities.. considered to be a valued career choice. The collaboration between ecosystem actors has been limited so far and in 2016, 2017 and 2018 the SSI The country benefits from an important diaspora that wants to invest into the rated this factor as average (score 3/5). Tech events are happening only on a country. In 2017, 5% of the population lived abroad and contributed up to monthly basis and in 2018, there were about 10 events which gather more 1.1% to the GDP. than 100 people around tech. Mainstream media does not often cover A technology park, Vitib SA (Village international pour les technologies de startups, however about 10 blogs cover entrepreneurship and tech, e.g.: l’information et la biotechnologie) has been launched by the government near Alassaut, l’Actu Web d’Edith, Aboukam.net. Some non-tech entrepreneurs are Abidjan and several projects should be launched in 2019. In addition, the local seen as key role models for the younger generation e.g. Stanislas Zeze, Jean development of regional tech enablers is a very good signal for the ecosystem and Jeanine Kacou Diagou. (Seedstars, MEST, Simplon…).

Environment In term of funding, there are multiple active players in the country and region, In terms of infrastructure, the Ivorian government has announced that the but only a limited number of EdTech startups have raised funds. energy sector is one of its priorities. In the cities the electricity is stable

although ¼ of the overall population does not have access to it. In 2015, the Success

government announced a 160-million euros project to set up a fiber optic There are some traditional entrepreneurs who inspire Ivorian youth such as cable. Stanislas Zézé, the founder and CEO of ratings agency Bloomfield Investment Corporation, or Jean Kacou Diagou, founder of NSIA. In terms of ease of doing business, while the administrative processes are lengthy for an entrepreneur, there are promising improvements. For instance, In the tech world, the role models are less prominent. Parfait Ouattara, the government has developed a Schéma Directeur National to support TIC co-founder of Taxijet, is one of the few success stories often mentioned by and simplify creation of tech companies (Horizon 2020). entrepreneurs. According to Transparency International4.2, Ivory Coast ranks 103/180 in terms of corruption, but most governance indicators point to progress made in recent years to control corruption.

17 05

Community EdTech Community Vibrancy Tech & EdTech Community Overview

Overview Incubation & Acceleration Programs Within the immature tech community, the EdTech community is almost The majority of support programs are incubation or pre-acceleration non-existent in Ivory Coast. There are no dedicated support programs for programs. They focus on providing working space, expertise and network to EdTech startups and the few events that are EdTech specific are not frequent the startups. The lack of support for more advanced startups (i.e. Acceleration enough or well known enough by entrepreneurs to make a lasting difference. Programs) can be explained by the youth of the ecosystem with a very limited number of mature startups. 8 actors in the community can be identified: ● code schools, Events & Conferences ● maker spaces, A key element of a vibrant community is the number of events which facilitate ● co-working spaces, the creation of a network, permit knowledge sharing and raise awareness of ● incubators / pre-acceleration / training programs, specific topics. In Ivory Coast, several tech events take place in Abidjan as well ● acceleration programs, as small meetups, however, the ecosystem is a long way from being vibrant. ● events and conferences, ● media and blogs, and Media & Blogs ● role models. Media and blogs are important actors in the tech community. They actively

participate in the promotion of innovative projects and development of content Code Schools to help external actors to understand an ecosystem. Several Ivorian blogs are The availability of tech talent is critical for startups so it is positive to see a dedicated to tech news. Among the well established blogs led by Ivorian number of code schools operating. The code schools in Ivory Coast are NGOs, influencers such as Edith Brou or Marck Andy, new tech blogs continue to public programs or social entreprises. She is the Code started in 2015 and two emerge such as Ticnew.net which launched at the end of 2017. additional ambitious initiatives have been announced in 2018: Simplon.co and Coding for Employment Program led by the African Development Bank. One Mainstream media normally do not cover tech, with the exception of the recommendation for the EdTech startups reading this report would be to forge monthly TV show “Réussite” on Canal+, broadcasted during prime time, which strong relationships with the Code Schools to develop a recruitment pipeline. showcases economic success from the continent, including startups.

Makerspaces & Co-working Role Models With regards to the provision of convenient office space and a natural Successful EdTech entrepreneurs who act as role models for the ecosystem community, at least 5 spaces exist, which target entrepreneurs and position have not yet surfaced. Lamine Barro from Etudesk and Raissa Banhoro from themselves as “innovation spaces”. They are all located in Abidjan. Bouaké - Banhoro Services Group benefit from visibility thanks to national or the second largest city of Ivory Coast - has not yet attracted such spaces. continental competitions and prizes that they have won, and may fulfill this spot in the future. 19 Tech & EdTech Community Overview

View the full map online at seedsta.rs/icmap Figure 5.1 Ivory Coast Tech Community Map 20 EdTech Community Events

Overview Events play an important role in an ecosystem by pulling together stakeholders, forging relationships and transferring knowledge. However, in Abidjan, just 10 tech conference gathering more than 100 people took place in 2018 (and 1 smaller EdTech event). Mostly the events are general tech conferences gathering officials, corporates, entrepreneurs and scientists.

Encouragingly, 3 out of the 11 events identified were dedicated to EdTech, however, they had a limited reach. Indeed, the majority of the EdTech entrepreneurs interviewed for the report had not gone to a tech event in the last 6 months and were often not aware of these events.

Lamine Azinakou, CEO of Lulla “I don’t know any EdTech events. In fact, I don’t know the EdTech community here.”

Recommendations 1) Regular EdTech Meetups: meetups with 10-50 people are cheap and easy to organise and can really help build an ecosystem. Running a regular series of focused EdTech meetups will facilitate dialogue between stakeholders in the industry. Such a project has been developed and should be implemented soon.

2) Regional EdTech Event: Organising a regional EdTech event would permit networking with startups and stakeholders across the region and also encourage investors to come and learn more about Ivory Coast (a key challenge identified in the Funding section).

Figure 5.2 EdTech Events and Major Tech View the full map online Conferences (>100 people) at seedsta.rs/icmap 21 Pre-Acceleration and Acceleration Programs

Overview There are about 15 different programs to incubate or accelerate startups in Ivory Coast although none are 100% EdTech focused. Of the programs, there are two public initiatives, Vitib and Dream Factory, which demonstrates the support of the government in entrepreneurship. Some of the initiatives are run as not-for-profit organisations such as Akendewa. The involvement of corporates in the tech space is led by telcos as shown by the existence of Orange Fab and Y’ello Start (MTN) incubation programs. About half of the programs started abroad (e.g. Founder Institute) and have been replicated in Ivory Coast.

The targets of these programs are: early stage startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and students from .

In 2018, the ecosystem has seen a promising growth with the launch or announcement on new initiatives like MEST (2019), Orange Corners or Seedstars Academy. Given the nascency of the overall ecosystem, the incubation and acceleration offering is substantial.

Recommendations 1) Specialise: Programs should make sure they do not target the same kind of tech entrepreneurs and propose the same support. Incubators and accelerators should design complementary programs, for instance based on different sectors. To do that, efficient communication between the actors is required.

2) Localise: Most of the programs are in Abidjan. A recommendation to the ecosystem would be to include the rest of the country.

3) Engage Universities: Universities should largely be involved in these View the full map online Figure 5.3 programs to guarantee that innovations from Ivory Coast emerge. at seedsta.rs/icmap Pre-Acceleration and Acceleration Map 22 06

Support & Adoption Is there a supportive environment towards EdTech? Education Institution Commitment & Adoption

Government support Commitment from schools to improve/adopt tech Since September 2015, schooling has been compulsory for all children of With the financial support of the second debt reduction and development both sexes aged between 6 and 16 years old (PSO: “compulsory schooling contract (C2D) Education / Training, concluded between and Ivory policy”). This policy is part of the development strategy of Ivory Coast which Coast, the Université Virtuelle de Côte d’Ivoire (UVCI) joined forces with makes education one of its main drivers. France Université Numérique (FUN) to develop its MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) offering and have a platform to manage its distribution. The The Ministry of Education has been endeavoring to extend the access to objective of this platform is to diffuse online courses produced by the UVCI training for all children between the age of 6 to 16 years. Be that as it may, and its partners to the Ivorian people and more broadly to the African public. enrolment rates have not expanded significantly and, notwithstanding when Gathered on the same platform, these online courses will be even more visible children enlist, participation is low. Both the young and grown-up education and identifiable to the public, facilitating the promotion of content and rates are very low in Ivory Coast. One way to advance instruction and learning creating a community of learners. is to increment parental attention to draw in guardians in their youngster's education. This idea gave birth to the collaboration of TRECC (Transformer The International University of Grand Bassam (IUGB) is an independent l'Éducation dans les Communautés de Cacao), MGOV and the Ministry of not-for profit institution replicating the American higher education system. Education, allowing schools to send notifications and messages through cell Since 2014, the IUGB has integrated the STEM (Science, Technology,

phones to students and parents. The text-based version of this intervention and Mathematics) program into its educational system. An has been shown to be effective in Brazil and communication with parents had entire department is dedicated to this program. Thanks to the American

a positive impact on children’s attendance and test scores. cooperation, the IUGB has been equipped with cutting-edge equipment and nearly a hundred young people are now enrolled. Among the accompanying measures of the PSO, the training and the recruitment of teachers has been selected as a priority. Indeed, if all The third establishment to note is the Institut Raggi Anne Marie (IRMA) of school-aged children have to attend school, it is imperative to have additional Grand Bassam. The IT Academy program offers content and training teachers providing courses. From 2014/15 to 2016/17, the number of teachers resources on Microsoft technologies and software as well as Microsoft holding classes increased from 84,919 to 104,493 in schools and public certifications to help students gain knowledge and computer skills for their institutions, regardless of the level of education, an average annual increase of future professional career. Depending on the program (Advanced or Essential), 10.9%. In the private sector, over the same period, their number has evolved to the resources available to students include, among other things, an e-learning an average of 6.5% per year.6.1 portal, MCP & MOS exams, access to the Microsoft Developer Network Academic Alliance (MSDNAA) program and a TechNet Discount.

24 Other Support and Adoption

Support from NGOs TRECC SOS Children Villages, an Austrian organisation working to provide quality Transforming Education in Ivory Coast is the mission that the Jacobs care for every child, has a specific and strong bond with Ivory Coast. Abobo Foundation, the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Bernard Van Leer Gare Village, in the north of Abidjan, is the first SOS Children's Village ever Foundation wish to help fulfill through the TRECC program. TRECC is always launched by the NGO in Africa. Education plays a central role in this project looking for public and private partners to enable the creation of an ecosystem since the village is composed of a pre-school with around 100 children, and a that promotes access to quality education for the greatest number of people, primary school bringing together more than 200 children. Today, in addition to with a particular focus on cocoa communities. About CFA 30bn will be invested through this program to support improvements in both early Abobo Gare, two other Villages are implanted in Aboisso and Yamoussoukro childhood development and quality of education. This program is in line with both providing full education facilities. the compulsory schooling program set up by the Ivorian government. In 2014 the French non-governmental organization Bibliothécaires sans The TRECC program mobilizes twelve leading companies in the cocoa and Frontières (BSF), in partnership with BabyLab, provided 200 young children chocolate industry, 20 civil society organisations and academic institutions, 5 with computer and code initiation courses for 15 months. BabyLab is a innovative market-based initiatives as well as 3 foundations. The cocoa FabLab located in Abobo municipality in the north of Abidjan. This project farmers are at the center of this strategy that aspires to ensure access to called Kid Lab continued thereafter with the aim of training children aged training, better crop plants and fertilizer for some 300,000 cocoa farmers in

8-to-15 years in coding, robotics and electronics. It inspired other actors such Ivory Coast and Ghana by the year 2020. One of the main missions this as Bora Kids, which aims to introduce computer code initiation in schools strategy strives for is also the empowerment of “communities through

through partnerships in different municipalities of Abidjan. education, child labor monitoring & remediation, and better gender parity”6.2.

Several other NGOs such as Aide et Action or Culture et Development are also present in Abidjan. The first one aspires to train teachers in computing and digital skills while the second aims at developing a FabLab low tech in Yopougon municipality.

25 07

Startups Ivory Coast EdTech Startups

Ivory Coast Startups vs Other Ecosystems The School Tech category is estimated as the next largest market opportunity but currently has just 4 startups offering solutions directly to schools such as By comparing the EdTech startups of the Ivory Coast to a number of more learning management systems (LMS), tablets and web/mobile applications. mature ecosystems, the innovation gap becomes clear. As shown in the figure These solutions help school administrations to create, deliver and track their 7.1, Abidjan hosts just 18 EdTech startups and currently lacks maturity with education plans. Given the difficulty of selling to schools, without further not one raising more than $1mn. support and adoption (as discussed in section 6), it is unlikely there will be a surge of entrepreneurs in this category. Maturity Almost all of the startups have been launched after 2016 illustrating a Three startups focus on Career Development (i.e. financial support for further growing interest from entrepreneurs and the recent birth of EdTech in the education, internships, jobs) although this is estimated to be a smaller market country. According to the results, 11 out of the 18 EdTech startups are revenue opportunity of the four segments. generating with the remainder being at idea or prototype stage.

Team Startup teams work with an average of 4 members. Based on our survey, 60% of the founders have already had previous experiences in education, most of Figure 7.1

them via mentoring activities as a secondary activity. There are no Ivorian EdTech Startups in selected ecosystems teachers among founders. At least 3 founders are computer specialists with full-time jobs, who work on their startups during weekends and after working # EdTech # with >1mn % raising > City Population hours. Among the 18 startups that we have identified, only 3 have been City Startups funding $1mn (mn) founded by women. Beijing 3000 109 4% 21.7 Sector Bay Area 800 178 22% 7.0 Four categories of EdTech solutions are used in this report: Bangalore 670 28 4% 12.3 ● School Tech, Boston 240 45 19% 0.7 ● E-learning for primary/secondary education, Tel Aviv 160 15 9% 0.4 ● E-learning for tertiary education, and ● Career Development. Nairobi 100 1 1% 3.1 Cape Town 60 2 3% 0.4 61% of the startups have chosen to develop e-learning solutions that target the end user directly and avoid the longer sales cycle associated with selling Kuala Lumpur 50 0 0% 1.6 to a school. These are also considered as the biggest market opportunities as Abidjan 18 0 0% 4.4 per the analysis on page 13. Sources: Navitas2.3, Seedstars. 27 Ivory Coast EdTech Startups

Figure 7.2 View the full map online EdTech startup map by focus area at seedsta.rs/icmap 28 Ivory Coast EdTech Startups Team Analysis

The team of a startup is often cited as the most important component. Figure 7.3 Comparison of the founding teams for a sizeable portion of the EdTech Founding Team startups against Africa’s top 4 EdTech startups (regional benchmark), and the Education top 5 EdTech startups across the globe (global benchmark) revealed the following results:

Education 60% of the local founding teams hold a Masters Degree, as against 27% in regional benchmark, and 57% in global benchmark. While the local startups have significantly more Masters Degree holders, taking the quality of education into consideration reveals that 86% of the founding members in the regional benchmark finished their education in a developed economy, Figure 7.4 contrasted with 78% of the Ivory Coast teams educated within the country. Founding Team The stark difference shows the gap that needs to be filled in the quality of the Size local education for developing prepared entrepreneurs.

Founding Team Size The global benchmark consists of an average of 2 founding team members

which aligns with the way local startups function. This finding does not point to any drawbacks for the local startups.

Work Experience Globally, the top-performing EdTech startup founders have had an average of Figure 7.5 11 years work experience (with 7 years on average for regional top startups) Founding Team before they founded their respective EdTech startups, as opposed to the Ivory Experience Coast founding teams with just 3 years of prior experience. The data reveals that having a more extensive work experience correlates with building a more successful EdTech business and should be addressed by the ecosystem. Furthermore, 90% of the founders in both regional and global benchmarks have >1k people in their network, against only 20% of local founding teams with the same network. Hence, It can also be assumed that with longer work experience comes a stronger network and increased capital, resulting in better 29 growth of the startup. Startup Challenges

Cost of Talents Content According to the survey, the main challenge that entrepreneurs face is the A challenge which has been mentioned by 2 entrepreneurs is the time it takes high cost of talent. PME Magazine reports that the minimum monthly gross to create relevant content. The production requires to involve a lot of actors salary of an executive with 3-5 years of experience is around CFA 400,000 such as teachers. It takes time, human resources and agile processes. A strong ($680). As discussed in the funding section, few startups have raised sufficient collaboration with universities could help entrepreneurs. funding to afford such talent. Additionally, “some skills are not available such as big data, pedagogical engineers...” according to Lamine Barro from Etudesk.

Access to the Network On average, startups identify lack of accessibility to the right network as an obstacle to succeed. The lack of an EdTech community described in section 5 can explain this challenge.

Fundraising Know-how and Funding Availability Figure 7.6 The fundraising process, the different types of fundings available and typical Challenges of EdTech entrepreneurs (0 = low, 10 = high) requirements are considered difficult to understand. In addition, knowing who is financing and how to approach them is seen as a hurdle for entrepreneurs. In addition to the know-how, the lack of funding availability was cited as a serious challenge. For the question “what are the biggest challenges that you face?”, the need for funding was mentioned by 50% of the entrepreneurs.

Market M-learning and especially SMS learning is a recent activity in Ivory Coast. Carole Attoungbre from Eneza Education explains that “there is still a need to educate learners to adopt tech solutions in their training.”

30 Quotes from Founders

Good business developers here are more expensive than in Ghana. It may be linked with the scarcity of talents.

Adrien Bouillot, founder of Chalkboard Education

There is a lack of understanding of the power of Mooc and EdTech from the training managers.

Ange Brou, founder of eDuc4Mooc

For the startups like us which have a mobile solution, they have to be integrated by mobile operators. The time to get the money from the telcos can be very long.

Carole Attoungbre, Country Director from Eneza

31 Startup Support

Learning by Doing Programs Failure is accepted by the entrepreneurs. Indeed, all the entrepreneurs see The support given by programs (incubation, acceleration, etc.) are not really failure as the most efficient way to learn and grow their business. valued by the entrepreneurs who give an average score of 4/10 (again with a large divergence). When entrepreneurs are asked what have been the main Online Learning support programs for them, a majority of the answers are programs outside Entrepreneurs who are at the prototype stage tend to use the free content that Ivory Coast e.g. Google Launchpad Accelerator Program, Seedstars World, they find online to advance their knowledge and skills. The content is mainly Foundation Tony Elumelu, Numa, RFI, GIST, which are mainly English-speaking francophone and produced in France (e.g. the YouTube channel Koudetat from programs. Nevertheless, local programs have also been mentioned: Orange The Family, has been mentioned in 2 interviews with entrepreneurs). Fab, Fondation Jeunesse Numérique, Founder Institute. It is interesting to see that the lack of network is one of the main challenges for the startups (page Mentoring 30) while all the structures to train entrepreneurs propose networking opportunities with relevant stakeholders begging. It appears therefore that The support provided by mentors is only effective for about half the startups more can still be done to facilitate network building for the entrepreneurs. and is perceived very differently from one entrepreneur to another. Based on the survey, it appears the mentoring value is linked to participation in programs as the entrepreneurs who had been through a program valued the mentor support highly. Accessing mentors outside of formal programs appears to be a challenge in the ecosystem. Figure 7.7

Support most valued by EdTech entrepreneurs (0 = low, 10 = high) Peer Learning The exchange between peers is not a motor of the learning process of entrepreneurs. If we look at the figure below we see that it is considered as a relatively low-valued source of learning. That may be explained by the absence of structures and events that encourage experience-sharing sessions with EdTech entrepreneurs.

32 Quotes from Founders

I have not found any mentors in Abidjan. I sometimes do short trainings on Saturdays to improve my management training skills. Lamine Azinakou, founder of Lulla

The best content I have found was online content. I have learnt

via the MOOC of Remi Bachelet.

Ange Brou, founder of eDuc4Mooc

I am not aware of a space where I could meet the entrepreneurial community of Abidjan, I don’t know the other entrepreneurs.

Adrien Bouillot, founder of Chalkboard Education

33 08

Funding Activity, Sources & Challenges Funding Overview & Recommendations

Funding Overview Recommendations for Ecosystem Leaders The funding situation for EdTech startups in Ivory Coast is a primary challenge 1) Get Ivory Coast in more investors’ portfolios: having more of the regional confirmed by the founders surveyed and the research conducted for this tech investors active in the country, in EdTech or otherwise, will simplify report. With only one startup raising over $100k and the majority working fundraising in the future. A range of initiatives could be tried such as simple with either no funding or small grants under $22k, the funding ecosystem in investor delegation trips or investor forums all the way up to tax incentives, or the country can definitely be described as nascent. a blended finance matching program. 2) Develop local Angel investor network: although the Ivoire Angels network Grant funding seems to be doing its part to kickstart EdTech startups and take exists, it was not cited as a funding source and is not yet an active part of the the first risk, however the amounts remain small. The second piece in the funding ecosystem. This association and others should be encouraged to grow funding chain should be local business angels but none were found to be and be supported by the government. active in the EdTech space, representing an important bottleneck. Three seed stage investors (Comoe Capital and the two authors of this report; Seedstars, 3) Build relationships with EdTech focused VCs: sector specific investors are Jacobs) are active in EdTech in the Ivory Coast and given the nascency of the unlikely to appear until an ecosystem has matured, therefore an interim step ecosystem, this is relatively positive. Also positive is the number of investors can be to develop ties with foreign EdTech focused VCs. Collaboration could focused on Africa with existing EdTech investments. This pool of 15 investors be in the form of a series of training sessions for founders all the way to a

will be an important source of funding for the local EdTech startups as they co-managed fund with a local investment firm. The most important objective scale, even if it will be a challenge convincing them to invest for the first time should be the transfer of knowledge from seasoned sector experts.

in Ivory Coast (of the 15 cited, only 4 have current investments in Ivory Coast).

A final positive sign is noted in the 4 international EdTech-focused investors Recommendations for Startups (Emerge Education, Learn Capital, Pearson, Rethink Education) with a deal 1) Consider International Acceleration Programs: several EdTech and many sector agnostic acceleration programs exist outside Ivory Coast although few already done in Africa. founders cited this as a potential source of funding. As most of the local programs are pre-acceleration stage, this route can help bridge the gap with All the startups surveyed are looking for funding of one sort or another but regional investors. Most of the foreign programs are held in English-speaking generally lack the know-how to go about it (as reported in the survey). countries, which can constitute a barrier for many Ivorian entrepreneurs. Although the sources of funding have bottlenecks and are in no way abundant, trying to raise funding without sufficient know-how is nearly 2) Nurture lead investor relationships: locally there are only few impossible. This issue is also relatively easy to fix through an investment organisations able to take on the role of lead investor so entrepreneurs should readiness program in Ivory Coast. plan ahead and start building those relationships.

3) Be bold: many of the founders surveyed stated a funding requirement that did not cover more than a few months of operations. Raising $20k can take as 35 much effort as raising $500k however must be repeated frequently. Funding Activity and Sources

Funding Raised Funding Sought Taking into account only the EdTech companies with their HQ in Ivory Coast, The total amount of funding sought by EdTech companies with their the amount of external funding raised in the ecosystem sums to a meagre headquarters in Ivory Coast is approximately $1.2mn. total of $184,600. As described in section 7, one of the key challenges described by the founders surveyed was the access to funding and this figure ● Grant funding is sought by 4 companies with an average amount of definitely corroborates that opinion. $17k, which is reasonable given the grants already raised by peers. ● The amount of grant funding sought by the startups provides a very ● Half of the startups have raised no funding at all despite having an small runway (estimated average of 4 months) and is insufficient in average age of 30 months. the opinion of the writers of this report. ● 5 startups have raised grants ranging from $1k-$22k. ● 4 startups are seeking angel funding averaging $72k. ● Grants are currently the most frequent source of funding. ● 72% of the funding required is sought from Seed stage investors ● No angel investment was cited. with the largest amount required being at $500k. ● Only 2 startups have raised seed capital, and one accounts for 60% of the total funding raised.

Figure 8.1 Figure 8.2 Funding raised by Ivory Coast EdTech startups Funding sought by Ivory Coast EdTech startups 36 Potential EdTech Investors for Ivory Coast Startups

Closest of Investments in Name Investor Type Location to IC Investment Structures investments Sectors of Focus Ticket Sizes Ivory Coast? Notable EdTech Investments Comoe Capital (I&P) Venture Capital Abidjan Equity, Debt Ivory Coast Impact €30k - €450k Yes Etudesk (CI) Jacobs Foundation Foundation Abidjan Equity, Debt Ivory Coast Education $100k - $1mn Yes Eneza, Chalkboard (CI) Seedstars Venture Capital Abidjan Program + Equity Emerging Markets EdTech + Fin/Clean/Ag/Health Tech $50k - $500k Yes Bora Teacher, Bora Digital (CI) Tony Elumelu Foundation Fondation Lagos Program, Grant, Equity Africa All $5k Yes Kalejob (CI) AHL Venture Partners Venture Capital Nairobi Equity, Debt Africa EdTech + Fin/Clean/Ag Tech $300k - $1.5mn Yes African Management Initiative (KE) CDC DFI London Equity, Debt Africa, South Asia EdTech + Fin/Health/Infra/RE/Food/Agri $10mn - $150mn Yes Bridge Int. Academy (US, KE) CRE Venture Capital Venture Capital Johannesburg Equity Africa Tech NA No Andela (Nigeria), PrepClass (NG) Green Tec Capital Partners Venture Capital Lagos Equity Africa Agri, Sustainable Res., Digitalisation Services Yes Yusudi Ltd (KE) Engineers Without Borders Foundation Toronto Equity GH, UG, KE, ZM AgTech, Engineering, WASH $50k - $100k No M Shule (KeKEnya) Global Innovation Fund Non-profit Fund Washington DC Grant, Equity, Debt Emerging Markets Education, Agri, Aquaculture $50k - $15mn No Mindsparks (IN) IFC Venture Capital IFI Washington DC Equity Global EdTech, Internet, Logistics, Health NA No Andela (MG), Bridge Int. A.(US, KE) Injini Accelerator Cape Town Program + Equity Africa EdTech $50k No M Shule (KE) Invested Development Venture Capital Nairobi Equity Emerging Markets Mobile, Agri, Energy $350k avg. No BRCK (KE) Naspers Venture Capital Cape Town Equity Global Internet, Media, Entertainment $1mn and up Yes Udemy (US), Code Academy (US) Omidyar Network Impact Investor Nairobi Equity, Grant Global Education, Fin. Inc., Dig.Identity, Gov. $200k - $2mn No Andela (NG), Bridge Int. A.(US, KE) Rise Capital Venture Capital San Francisco Equity Growth Markets Tech NA No PrepClass (NG)

Savannah Venture Capital Nairobi Program + Equity East Africa EdTech + Ag/Health/Fin/Ent/Com Tech $25k - $500k No Eneza (KE) TLcom Capital Venture Capital Nairobi, Lagos Equity Africa TMT NA No Andela (NG) Vilcap Impact Investor Washington DC Program + Equity Global EdTech + Fin/Clean/Ag/Health Tech $50k No Lekki Pen. Affordable Schools (NG) Emerge Education Accelerator London Program + Equity Global EdTech $50k No Edacy (SN, CI) Learn Capital Venture Capital San Francisco Equity USA EdTech NA No Coursera (US), Andela (NG) Pearson Aff. Learning Fund Corporate VC New York Equity Emerging Markets EdTech $300k - $1.5mn No SPARK Schools (ZA) Rethink Education Venture Capital New York Equity USA EdTech NA No Bridge Int. Academy (US, KE) Orange Digital Venture Venture Capital Paris Equity Africa FinTech, Enterprise, IoT, Connectivity $500k - $3mn No - Partech Africa Venture Capital Dakar Equity Africa Tech €200k+ No - Adenia Private Equity Abidjan Equity Africa Agri, Manu., Fin., Telco, Hosp., Health NA Yes - AfricInvest Private Equity Abidjan Equity Africa EdTech + Fin/Health/Ag Tech NA Yes - Amethis Finance Private Equity Abidjan Equity Africa Industrial, Financial Services, Health €10mn - €50mn Yes - ECP Private Equity Abidjan Equity Africa Fin. Ser., Consumer, Telco, Logistics NA Yes - PCM Capital Partners Private Equity Abidjan Equity Africa Industrials, Financial Services, Telco NA Yes - Sirius Capital for Africa Investment Bank Abidjan Advisory, M&A West Africa All NA No -

Investors active in EdTech in Tech investors active in Africa EdTech investors but not Africa Tech investors active in Africa PE Funds with tech interest

Ivory Coast with with an EdTech deal focused but not yet in EdTech active in Ivory Coast 37 Potential EdTech Investors for Ivory Coast Startups

Potential Investors

PE Funds with tech interest active in Ivory Coast Major tech investors active in Africa but not yet in EdTech

Tech investors active in Africa with an EdTech deal

EdTech investors but not Africa focused

Investors active in EdTech in Ivory Coast

38 Ivorian EdTech Ecosystem from an Investor Perspective

To better gauge why there is not more investment activity, several investors Challenges from the region were interviewed and surveyed. All these are active in the Startup Quality region, but do not necessarily have a portfolio company in Ivory Coast. Among All surveyed and interviewed investors criticized the average startup quality the interviewed and surveyed funds and organizations are AHL Venture they found in Ivory Coast, especially when it comes to proving their product / Partners, Comoé Capital, Village Capital and The Tony Elumelu Foundation. market fit with traction. Investors think that there are two particular reasons for startups having little revenue to show: first, it is very hard to work with Opportunities government schools as the sales cycles are very long; second, many startups are trying to serve the underserved with low disposable income while the Market Opportunity costs for solutions are too high. Only some of the investors interviewed and surveyed are slowly eyeing the Ivory Coast for investment targets. However, one of the ones that does, Village Founder Know-how and Attitude Capital, mentioned that they believe that the market opportunity is given with Investors criticize that founders do not understand the very basics of finance, the population being very young and in dire need of education services as accounting and fundraising. They do not know when to approach a bank and mentioned before in this report. when to approach an investor. Moreover, the culture is characterized by a certain degree of informality when it comes to starting a business. Many Government Support would ask their aunties and uncles for money, but not pay the money back. While the government is still struggling to close the gap when it comes to This kind of attitude is also brought to institutional investors and banks and education, the government is made very aware of the importance of the topic results in a high default rate as stated by one interviewed investor. by international organizations such as the World Bank. The government is also relying on private efforts to improve its educational system and according Ecosystem Support to one investor interviewed there have been strong signs for the government As noted before in this report, the investors also complained that ecosystem readily supporting international investors as they put no limit on foreign support is lagging behind in Ivory Coast compared to other ecosystems in the 8.1 investment in most sectors. region. They see this lack of support as one of the reasons for the low startup quality mentioned above. Number of Investment Targets Interestingly enough Alexandria Amamgbo from the Tony Elumelu Foundation stated that the number of EdTech startups as a percentage of all startups in their portfolio in Ivory Coast is higher than in other countries in the region e.g. Nigeria.

39 Quotes from investors

The government is trying to create an attractive environment for investors to come in. Regulations are becoming more flexible such as having little restrictions on foreign investment and ownership. Village Capital, Tina Nyamache

Startups in Ivory Coast definitely need more funding. Moreover, they lack

business skills and this often keeps them from getting their product in front

of the right audience and reaching product / market fit. Tony Elumelu Foundation, Alexandria Amamgbo

More incubators and accelerators are needed to help investment readiness of startups. Comoé Capital, Sidibe Issa

40 Acknowledgements

This report would not have been possible without the incredible team effort of the contributors and we would like to thank: Adrina Collini, Clement Delcourt, Charlie Graham-Brown, Fanny Dauchez, Nadiia Mykhalevych, Satwik Govindarajula.

Special thanks to the stakeholders who took the time to talk to us and share their thoughts: Adrien Bouillot from Chalkboard Education, Ange Brou from eDuc4Mooc, Jephté Toukea Tatsi from Q Maker, David Yao from Oschool Lamine Azinakou from Lulla, Tina Nyamache from Village Capital and Alexandria Amamgbo from the Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Finally, we would like to thank the Jacobs Foundation for their ambitious vision and relentless efforts to improve the state of education for children and youth.

41 References

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42